Youth protest former Mexican ruling party's rise

Young Mexicans march against old ruling party, despite lead in polls
MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press
6:21 p.m. EDT, May 19, 2012

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Thousands of college-age demonstrators marched down Mexico City's main boulevard Saturday to protest a possible return of the old ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, known as the PRI, which held Mexico's presidency without interruption from 1929 to 2000.

PRI presidential candidate Enrique Pena Nieto leads in polls ahead of the July 1 election, but he was heckled by young protesters during a recent appearance at a university. Students blamed him for a violent crackdown on protesters outside Mexico City in 2006. Later, some PRI members suggested the hecklers weren't really students, further enflaming passions.

In a move unusual for Mexico, the demonstrators did not carry banners for any of the other three candidates in the presidential race, instead shouting slogans against what they don't want, a return of the PRI, whose 71-year-rule was marked by repression, corruption and periodic economic crises.

Playing on the PRI's name, one banner read "I don't want a PRImitive Mexico." Another banner read: "We don't forgive or forget 70 years of corruption."

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